Change in Status
by Hypo Prower
Summary: They were always considered to be great friends, but after an eventful mission, Kakashi and his student may change their feelings forever. KakaOC, tiny hints at ShikaTem.
1. Toes and Woes

**A/N: Alright guys, because you asked for it...here it is. Once again it's KakaOC, this'll...hint a little bit more at it though. Maybe not as much as Never Leave, but it's there if you look.**

**This will not be the last one in the series because I've got number 5 done, and I'm working on number 6! All while working on my Sonic the Hedgehog stories too! So if you would like to see more, keep on reviewing as you always have.**

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"OW, CRUD!"

Kakashi Hatake grew a surprised expression on his face. His hair was slightly mussed up from training all day. He spun around and stared, watching his student jump up and down, screeching in pain.

The student's name was Ai Raiokachi. She wore an orange cloth zip-up jacket with a white t-shirt underneath. Her pants matched her shirt, with them being running pants. She had lightning-blonde hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail, and deep blue eyes. Her bangs fluttered around her face since they were too short to stay pulled up. Her ninja headband was wrapped around her head under her bangs. On her back she wore a sword, which was contained in its sheath.

Ai was a chunin. She was assigned to Kakashi along with the rest of her squad after she graduated from the Konoha Academy. Kakashi was done training Naruto and Sakura, so he decided to take on Ai's team. The kunoichi had risen to the chunin rank approximately 3 months ago.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi called, putting a troubled look on his face. Ai clutched her pinky toe, which was exposed due to her sandals. "What happened?" the jonin asked again, walking over to her.

Ai growled. "I…"

"And please," Kakashi interrupted with a sheepish gaze. "Try to refrain from using obscenities."

"Fine…" Ai sighed through her teeth. "I stubbed my…darn toe whenever I was recovering from your technique."

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle at his student's bad luck. "Can you put weight on it?" he asked, wanting to make sure the injury wasn't serious before he laughed some more.

Ai curiously looked at her pinky toe, which was beginning to swell. "I dunno. Let's see." She cautiously put her sandal down on the ground beneath her, and was about to take a step before she shot straight up in the air from pain.

"NOPE! NOPE!!" She screamed, hopping around on one foot.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and held her steady. "Let me see," he instructed. Ai moaned and showed him her toe. It was indeed throbbing, red, and beginning to swell. The jonin rubbed the back of his head. "You just can't stop hurting your feet, can you?" he giggled. "First your ankle, and now your toe."

Ai smirked. "Well, I can either be a good ninja or I can be coordinated. Which will it be?"

"I'll take the latter," Kakashi joked. Then, in a graceful manner, he swept Ai up into his arms. The kunoichi crossed her arms in a huff.

"Alright, now you're just showing off," she snapped. Without another word, Kakashi began walking to Konoha's hospital.

***

"Why does this seem like déjà vu…?"

Ai crossed her arms and glared at her toe. It was now wrapped in a wooden splint.

Kakashi, who was standing beside her outside the hospital, put a hand on her shoulder. "At least you can walk this time," he put in. Ai snorted and attempted to walk, but that only ended up with the split cutting into her other toes. If it wasn't for Kakashi's hand keeping her down, she would have shot up again.

"N-not really," she choked out, wincing in pain.

"Hey!"

Kakashi and Ai both looked up to see another figure walking towards them. It was none other than Might Guy.

When Ai was a baby, she was left on Guy's door step. Since then, the two have lived together, forming a 'father-daughter' relationship. Although, if you ever referred to Guy as Ai's father, she would knock you out to show you otherwise.

"What happened?" Guy asked worriedly. He had seen Ai's toe as soon as he arrived. Ai crossly glared off in the other direction and blushed. She was too embarrassed to tell Guy about her clumsiness when she was supposed to be the cool one.

Kakashi chuckled as he watched Ai pout. "Oh, she ran into a tree whenever we were training," he replied. Guy raised a bushy eyebrow and studied Ai's face.

"A tree?!" he demanded. "You can take out 3 Suna guards whenever they accuse you of trespassing but you get tripped up by a tree?"

"Look, just shut up alright?!" Ai yelled back. "I was too busy trying to recover from Kakashi-sensei's attack, and I was too focused to notice the tree. Happy?"

Guy opened his mouth to say something, but shut it when he realized something else. "You attacked her?!" he demanded to his rival, who was looking very confused at the moment.

"Attacked? More like sparred with. We were TRAINING, Guy. Don't you ever spar with Lee?"

The jonin in the jumpsuit snorted. "Of course I spar with Lee. I would never hurt him, though."

"Look, don't blame Kakashi-sensei just because I stubbed my toe," Ai said angrily. "It wasn't his fault; it was mine."

Guy sighed, a little relieved that at least Ai was safe. "Fine. Just…be a little more careful, OK?"

"Meh, noise, noise…" Ai trailed off.

***

"So, you really can't walk…again?"

Ai and her best friend, Naruto Uzumaki, were seated on a tree branch in Konoha. Naruto had befriended Ai when the both of them were fairly young.

Ai crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"I can walk on it," she corrected. "It's just…very, very unpleasant."

Naruto grinned cheekily. "Yeah, I saw you hobbling around today," he chuckled. "I can't believe that it was just two weeks ago that you sprained your ankle…and now you can't even walk again."

Ai gnawed on her lower lip. "This really, really sucks."

The two shinobi in orange sat in silence for another moment. Then Naruto spoke up.

"Hey, I noticed you've been hanging out with Kakashi-sensei more often," he said, curiosity flickering in his gaze. Ai glanced over and shrugged.

"So?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, but why? I mean…well, I guess I had better be the one to tell you this…"

Ai was the curious one now. "Tell me what?"

"There's a rumor going around…that you and Kakashi…are…y'know…"

"WHAT?!"

Ai roared as she hopped up and stood on the tree branch. She started ranting.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Kakashi-sensei and I aren't dating! What the heck?! I mean, crap, we're like…what? 13 years apart?! He's almost TWICE my age! Why the heck would people even get the IDEA that we're goin' out?!"

Naruto stared at Ai in bewilderment. He had never heard her scream that loudly. "Umm…Ino told me and Sakura."

Ai clenched her teeth together. "Ino…!"

"N-now, don't do anything you'll regret in the morning," Naruto said nervously, sheepishly smiling and grabbing Ai's arm. The kunoichi's face was crimson with anger.

"Oh, I won't regret anything…but Ino is going to regret EVER spreading rumors about me whenever she's at Judgment!"

Naruto gulped and gripped Ai's arm tighter. "Yeah, but come on Ai…who else is going to keep Choji company? Just stay here…I'll take care of Ino for you, OK?"

Ai snorted and plopped down again next to her friend. "Fine," she said crossly, folding her arms and closing her eyes again.

"Your toe was throbbing, wasn't it?"

"…yeah."


	2. Fights

**A/N: Chapter two has arrived.**

**Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I upload. If you enjoy this, please review!**

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Ai knocked on the door the Hokage's office. Whenever she heard the usual 'Enter!', she walked in. Her toe was better, even though it still kind of hurt. Why would she tell that to Shizune? She'd be kicked off active duty again.

The chunin walked in, then stopped dead whenever she saw Guy standing next to Kakashi inside the room. She glared at Guy for a brief moment before switching her gaze to Tsunade. She was furious.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" she cried. Kakashi closed his eye musingly.

"Oh, come on. It's not as bad as it looks."

Ai growled and clenched her jaw together before marching up to Tsunade, who was seated at her desk. "Look," she started. "I have to deal with enough Guy every day WITHOUT him coming on missions with me!"

Tsunade returned the glare, but made it 10 times fiercer. "I'M the one making decisions here, Ai!" she replied. "This is an A-rank mission; I couldn't just send one jonin and one chunin!"

"Yeah, Ai, come on," Guy persuaded in an embarrassed voice. He didn't like the fact that he was the center of the argument. Kakashi sighed, distressed.

"Lady Tsunade, if I may," he suggested. "Why don't you replace Ai with Naruto? That would even things out."

Ai spun around and eyed her teacher. "I don't want to be replaced," she explained. "Can't she just replace Guy?"

Tsunade stood up and walked over to Ai. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but I'M the Hokage! It's my job to pair up squads for mission, and this is an A-ranked mission from Kusagakure. We need two jonin and one chunin. It fits. Deal with it."

The kunoichi muttered under her breath but said nothing more. Tsunade stood a little taller. "Good," she said, forming a little smile. "Then you'll all be dispatched immediately. Good luck."

***

Ino stood at the front register at her family's flower shop. The chunin sighed; it had been a rather slow day for business. She would rather be out with Shikamaru, with whatever mission he had at Suna. It was probably to go see his little girlfriend. Ino grinned evilly as she thought of all the gossip she had taken in…

The door opening and the little bell dinging snapped her from her thoughts. Ino glanced up to see Naruto walk through and glance at her. Inwardly, she sighed; it was only Naruto. Unless…he had come to buy flowers for a _certain someone_. Oooo, this would be GREAT gossip.

"Hi Naruto," Ino said, forcing a smile on her face. Naruto gave her a small smile before frowning again.

"Listen, we need to talk," he said. Ino curiously cocked her head; wow, this was getting pretty deep for Naruto.

The jinchuriki walked over the counter and studied a vase that was resting there. "It's about what you said about Ai…y'know, Raiokachi Ai?" Ino pondered a moment before recalling what she had said about her last week to Naruto and Sakura.

"Yeah, what about her?" Ino replied, blinking her teal eyes.

"Well," Naruto began rubbing the back of his head. "She got really upset after she found out that you were spreading rumors about her. And she was going to…say some things to you, but I stopped her, and told her I would deal with it."

Ino rested her chin on her palm and twitched out a cocky smile. "Man, what would SHE do to me?"

Naruto suddenly jerked his head up to stare at her. "Hey, back off, Ino! Ai's my best friend, I know that she could kick your butt any day! She was really ticked about what you said, and so was I! Stop spreading rumors about her."

That got something fired up inside Ino. The Yamanaka ninja was suddenly out from behind the counter and was face to…chest with Naruto (she was much shorter than Naruto). She glared up into his deep blue eyes. "You think she could kick my butt…? Well, I'm sure she's more of a wimp that you, and I could kick your butt any day of the week!"

"Today's the day, then!"

In what seemed like a blur of events, Naruto and Ino were suddenly tussling outside the flower shop. By-passers were stopping with interest to watch the two duke it out.

***

Shikamaru walked in the direction of Ino's shop. He had a backpack slung on his shoulders, evidence that he had been in Suna. He sighed, relieved that he could now relax in Konoha.

Suddenly, he heard people yelling 'Fight! Fight!'. Upon further inspection, the chunin could make out two blondes, one in orange and one in purple, trading punches on the street.

Shikamaru sighed. _What's that troublesome girl done now…?_

***

"So, what's happening in the Rock Country…?"

Kakashi, Ai and Guy were walking towards Kusa, as they had been for nearly 3 hours now. Kakashi shrugged at Ai's question.

"Dunno. Apparently there's some sort of trouble going on…we'll have to check it out."

Guy studied Kakashi for a moment. "That's a little irresponsible, Kakashi, don't you think?" he asked. "I mean, just walking straight into a battle? You don't even know what's going on over there."

Ai was wearing the same care-free expression. "Hey, if we walk into a battle, all we have to do is start hitting people."

"Yeah, that's WAY better," Guy said sarcastically.

Kakashi stopped walking suddenly, and Guy and Ai copied. "What is it?" Guy asked. Kakashi squinted his visible eye.

"You hear that?" he asked. Everyone was silent for a moment, and they could definitely make out yelling and stabbing.

"C'mon." Kakashi took off in the direction that it came from, with Guy and Ai close behind.

Whenever the three had arrived, they were immediately whisked apart and into separate battles. A man with a Kusa headband had attacked Kakashi, but stopped whenever he saw his headband. "Konohagakure jonin?" he asked. Kakashi nodded.

"I'm Takeda," the Kusa-nin greeted, putting his kunai away. Kakashi held out his hand, which Takeda took.

"Hatake Kakashi. Who are we dealing with here?"

Takeda growled. "Iwagakure," he said angrily. "It's a land dispute. They said their ancestors lived on this land…or something. They just want to become part of the Land of Fire."

"I see…" Kakashi looked around, noticing that Ai and Guy had disappeared. "Look, I'm traveling with another jonin and a kunoichi. If you see any of them, can you explain the situation?"

"Consider it done," Takeda nodded. "I'd better get back with my squad. We thank you for your help."

"No problem," Kakashi replied, then took off in the other direction.


	3. Truthful Gossip?

**A/N: Whoops! Sorry to leave you hanging guys! I got kind of caught up in writing Flip Side...I forgot about Change in Status.**

**Here's chapter 3. Enjoy!**

**Also...review?**

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"OK, so let me get this straight," Shikamaru sighed. "You and Naruto were fighting…over gossip."

Shikamaru, Ino, and Naruto were seated at Shikamaru's favorite cloud-watching spot. The Nara ninja had quickly broken up the fight whenever he arrived at the scene, and had dragged the two with him to talk.

Ino muttered something inaudible. Naruto spoke quickly. "Yeah but Ino was spreading rumors about Ai and Kakashi and I thought that was wrong so I went to her flower shop and then she called me a wimp and she called Ai an even bigger wimp and…"

"Slow down," Shikamaru interrupted. "I can barely understand a word you're saying. Anyway, Ino…c'mon, I mean, what the heck."

Ino crossed her arms. "What can I say? I see Kakashi with Ai all the time, so I figure they MUST be dating. Then Naruto gets peeved at me for making assumptions."

"But the assumptions are WRONG!" Naruto argued back, pointing at Ino. Shikamaru chuckled and leaned back, hands in his pockets.

"I know exactly what ya mean, Naruto," he said calmly. "She NEVER leaves me alone about Temari. And yeah…rumors are harsh. I know." Shikamaru then flicked his gaze to his teammate. "Ino, it's not nice to spread rumors."

Ino fumed and glared holes in Shikamaru. "Oh, you can just shut it, Shikamaru," she snapped. "Like you've never spread any rumors yourself!"

Naruto gnawed on his lower lip to keep from biting back. How did Shikamaru stay so relaxed all the time with her around?!

Shikamaru put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, smirking a little. "Actually, never have never will," he replied to Ino. "I think it's just troublesome to have to clean up all the rumors you spread around after people realize that they're not true."

Ino furrowed her brow and leaned over to smack Shikamaru. The chunin, however, caught his friend's hand. The kunoichi blinked in surprise and tried wriggling it free. "Let go!" she demanded. Shikamaru chuckled and opened one eye to look at her.

"Promise to apologize to Ai after she gets home."

The three were silent for a minute. Naruto glared profusely at Ino, wanting her to apologize. Shikamaru had closed his eye again and was enjoying the sunlight.

"But…I wasn't making that one up…" Ino admitted. "I think they actually are…dating."

Shikamaru frowned and opened his eyes, letting go of Ino's wrist. Naruto raised his eyebrows. "But how can you think that?" he asked. "I just talked to Ai before they left for the mission, and she swore that they weren't dating."

Ino fiddled with a piece of grass. "I seriously doubt that," she said. "I mean, look at Neji and Tenten. What did those two do before they started going out? They spent every second they could together. Same goes with…" The kunoichi smirked and stared at Shikamaru. "You know…him and…"

The Nara ninja frowned a little before finally giving an ever-so-slight smile. "Well, she's right, Naruto," he confessed. "I mean…me and T-Temari…"

"KNEW IT!" Ino cheered, pumping her fist into the air.

"Wait," Shikamaru said, stopping her. "We aren't going out…officially, I guess. I mean, we go on dates and stuff, but I never actually asked her out."

Naruto digested the information for a couple seconds. "So, what you're saying is that Ai and Kakashi could…possibly be…?"

Ino and Shikamaru nodded in unison. "That's what the case seems to be," Ino said. "That's why I told you and Sakura that…because that's what I seriously thought."

"How will we know for sure?" Naruto asked curiously, already being a bit flabbergasted at his best friend going out with someone twice her age.

"There's only one way to find out," Ino said, grinned cheekily and winking.

***

Ai was on the edge of a dock in Kusagakure. After she and the rest of the team had split up, she had engaged in combat with an Iwa kunoichi named Rie. Rie grinned evilly and leaned forward into position.

"I thought Konohagakure ninja were supposed to be the top in the Fire Country," she sneered. Ai clenched her teeth but said nothing. Instead, she charged forward and tried to tackle Rie.

She saw it coming, however. She leapt up and reached into her weapon's roster to dispense a barrage of kunai and shuriken.

Ai gasped and jumped back in quick succession after the weapons landed on the dock in front of her. When Rie landed, Ai placed her fingers into formation. "Tajuu KageBunshin!" she recited, and four clones appeared beside her.

The clones dashed forward and kicked upwards, launching Rie into the air.

"Rai!"

"O!"

"Ka!"

"Chi!"

As Rie was flying upwards, Ai did a few more hand signs, and her hands started glowing with electrical energy. She jumped up and when she was directly over Rie in the air, she started punching as hard as she could.

"Ai Renden!"

Rie was launched into the ground, and Ai landed neatly beside her. She smirked; she had picked up the shadow clone barrage technique from Naruto, but she added the lightning style twist herself.

Shakily, Rie stood up and glared at Ai; now SHE was on the edge of the dock. "Good girls play nice, you know," she said in a taunting voice. Ai crossed her arms.

"Guess I'm not a good girl, then," she replied, and walked forward towards the Iwa-nin.

Suddenly, Ai heard a voice cry out behind her. "Wait, Ai don't go near her! It's a trap!" It was Kakashi. The jonin dashed towards his student, but by then it was already too late.

Ai was frozen where she stood, and her blue gaze was locked on Rie's eyes. They were now glowing red. "Looks like the strongest ninja in all of the Fire Country can't even avoid a little genjutsu, hmm?"

Kakashi was suddenly behind Rie, gripping her arms and holding a kunai to her neck. "Release her _now_." he ordered. Rie snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Kill me if you want," she sneered. "I'd be dying with honor for fighting for my country."

Kakashi glared at her for a moment before finally lowering the kunai. "Just…release the genjutsu." He said.

Ai, meanwhile, was barely able to quiver. _What's the matter with me?! Why can't I move?! The genjutsu can't be THAT strong…_ Suddenly, the chunin's breath caught in her throat as Rie suddenly shoved Kakashi backwards into the ocean…and he wasn't moving.

_Crap! She must've trapped him in the genjutsu!_ Ai's thoughts screamed in her head as finally she realized she could move; Rie must not have enough chakra to trap both Ai and Kakashi.

"Move!" Ai yowled as she shoved Rie out of the way and dove into the ocean after Kakashi. It was really dark under the surface, but she finally found him floating down towards the bottom.

Using all of her strength, she shot forward and grabbed a hold of her teacher's arm. She tried swimming upwards but realized that Kakashi was much too heavy to carry back with her. Ai grabbed desperately at the surface, but only managed to slightly get closer.

Suddenly, she felt someone else grab her and drag her back towards the dock. As soon as her head cleared the surface, her lungs exploded with fresh air. She panted and looked up to see who her rescuer was.

It was Guy.

"Ai!" he said. "Are you alright?!"

"No!" Ai sputtered, trying to keep her head over the surface and drag Kakashi up at the same time. "I've got Kakashi, and he's under a genjutsu. He can't move!"

Without another word, Guy hauled Ai up onto the dock and grabbed Kakashi, removing him from Ai's grasp. He laid him out on the dock and grabbed his wrist, checking for a pulse. "He's still breathing," he told Ai.

Ai nervously stared at Kakashi's face. "D-does he need…CPR?"

Guy gulped as he considered the possibility. "Er…he shouldn't if he's breathing…right?"

The two stared at Kakashi for another moment, blood rushing to both of their cheeks. Ai started shaking the jonin. "Er…Kakashi-sensei…? Are you…alright?"

No response.

"He must still be under the genjutsu," Guy realized. Then he flicked his gaze from Kakashi to Ai to Kakashi again. "We…need to remove his mask…and make sure he's still breathing."

"You mean….CPR?" Ai asked, blushing harder now. Guy gnawed on his lower lip and nodded. The two stared at each other for another moment before Ai finally dragged Kakashi's head next to her. "Turn around," she told Guy.

Guy raised an eyebrow, and was about to protest but Ai glared at him fiercely. "Just do it!" she insisted. Guy nodded and spun around, looking around to make sure there weren't any enemies near.

Slowly and cautiously, Ai grabbed a hold of Kakashi's mask and began to slide it down his face. She blinked in surprise when she realized that it appeared that there was another mask underneath. Then she remembered one day at Ichiraku whenever Team 22 was having lunch, and Kakashi put each member under a genjutsu to make appear as if he was still wearing his mask, but in reality he wasn't.

Ai swept her gaze over her teacher's face, and finally began giving him CPR, estimating where his mouth should be. After giving him two breaths of air, she began pumping on his chest, trying to get his heart pumping again. She pressed her ear against his jonin vest and heard the heartbeat getting stronger.

Smiling, Ai pulled Kakashi's mask back up over his face. Just as she was finished, he slowly opened his visible eye. Guy spun around whenever he heard Kakashi groan and sit up. "You OK, Kakashi?" he asked.

"Ugh…I think so…" Kakashi said, rubbing his head. Ai supported his back and grinned happily.

"Good thing, I thought I was gonna have to get the defibrillator!" she joked. Guy studied her warily, wondering exactly what happened when he had his back turned.


	4. Asking Kakashi

**A/N: In case you guys were wondering why it's been a while, I'm waiting on reviews to continue. I'm three for three now. Please keep on reviewing, and I'll submit new chapters!**

**Also, band camp. Ugh.**

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"Lady Shizune, I'm fine…"

Kakashi looked sheepish as Shizune shoved him into an examining room at the hospital. "You almost drowned!" she said sternly. "Get into that room, we'll examine you in a minute."

Ai smirked and couldn't help but think that Kakashi was in the same position as she had been a few days back. Speaking of which…her toe really hurt from hiking.

Guy had already gone to some other examining room due to the fact that he had been stabbed in different places by the Iwagakure ninja. So that only left Ai, who came out uninjured.

Suddenly, the kunoichi was interrupted from her thoughts as she heard someone calling after her. She looked to the right, and saw Ino, Naruto and Shikamaru running towards her. Ai furrowed her brow. What on earth was Ino and Shikamaru doing with Naruto?

"Hey Ai! We wanna ask ya something!" Naruto called as he and the rest finally caught up to her. Ai raised her eyebrows.

"What is it?" she asked.

Ino sighed. "Ai…are you and Master Kakashi dating?"

Ai processed the thought for a moment before bursting out in outrage. "INO!! Now I remember, you're the one who started spreading rumors about me!" Ai crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Hear me out, me and Kakashi AREN'T dating!"

"Then why didn't you call him Kakashi-sensei just now?" Shikamaru asked slyly. "I mean, you always called him 'sensei' before this whole incident…why didn't you just now?"

Ai thought a moment. "Well…I dunno, I'm a chunin now, and I guess Kakashi-sensei doesn't like it when I call him 'sensei'. Makes him feel old, I guess."

Shikamaru smirked. "Not tryin' to be a drag or anything, but you just now called him 'sensei'. Was it a self-conscious thing, or what?"

"Oh come on!" Ai interrupted. "Naruto, please tell these two Kakashi-sensei and I AREN'T dating. I'm going home."

Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru watched Ai storm away. Naruto spun around and faced the two. "_See_?" he demanded. "I told you!"

"Nah," Shikamaru contradicted, shaking his head. "She was lying. I could see it."

"See it?" Naruto repeated, turning confused. The Nara ninja nodded.

"Yup. She's too embarrassed to admit it. I say we ask the other end of the line."

Ino cocked her head and put her finger on her chin. "Other end…?" she asked. "You mean…?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yup. Kakashi."

***

Ai hung upside down on a tree branch and gazed out, bored, into the village. She had been more than bored after she got home, and since she couldn't stand around for too long without her toe beginning to hurt, she decided to hang upside down on the branch. The blood hadn't even began to rush to her head yet.

So she nearly had a coronary and fell on her head whenever she heard a voice behind her. "Is that any fun?"

It was Kakashi.

Ai yelped as Kakashi walked around into her line of vision. The kunoichi sighed with relief before glaring at her teacher. "You could've warned me," she scolded. Kakashi chuckled.

"But that wouldn't be near as much fun."

"So," Ai began, crossing her arms. "Why are you here?"

Kakashi sighed wearily and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, yeah…um, well, I thought maybe we should talk about what happened during the mission."

"What happened?" Ai repeated. "What do you mean, 'what happened'? You almost drowned."

"Almost," Kakashi emphasized. "But, umm…I get the impression that you…um, y'know, saved me."

Ai realized what the jonin was talking about, and blood rushed to her cheeks. "Oh, er, yeah."

Kakashi sighed with relief. "Good, because if it was Guy, I was going to need to sterilize my mouth."

The two laughed, obviously avoiding the matter at hand. Ai chuckled and fidgeted with your jacket. "But, uh, don't worry," she affirmed. "I didn't see what was under your mask. Remember that genjutsu you put on me, Natsu and Cherry that one day at Ichiraku? I guess it was still in place."

"Oh," Kakashi said, a little surprised. "Yes…that's fine…"

There was silence for a moment more before Kakashi cleared his throat. "Listen, I don't know any easy way to tell you this, so I'm just gonna tell it to you straight."

Ai stared curiously at her teacher, wondering what the heck was going on. Kakashi took a deep breath.

"I told…Ino, Shikamaru and Naruto…that we were…"

Ai thought for a split second before her blood ran cold. She realized EXACTLY what Kakashi was talking about. "WHAT?!" she screamed, flipping and neatly landing on her feet.

Kakashi grabbed his student's shoulder and held her down. "Now, l-let me explain," he said very nervously. "OK, since I didn't have anyone that had consent over me, they wouldn't release me from the hospital unless I had someone that I was…um, seeing. So those three barged up to me right when the medics were considering letting me out…what else could I say?"

"Ummm…" Ai felt very awkward after Kakashi's explanation. "So, you fake us dating…to get you out of the hospital."

"Yes," Kakashi replied with a nod.

There was another silence for a moment before Ai jumped back up on the tree branch and hung upside down again. "That's ok, I guess," she said. "We were just pretending, right? No harm done."

Kakashi leaned against the tree and shut his eyes while crossing his arms. "Mmm," he agreed.


	5. Jonin Meeting

**Moving right along with this. Thanks so much for the reviews, guys.**

**The next chapter will be the last, and also short. Then you get to see the fifth story! The title is still TBA, but I think I'm going with 'Different Perspective'. That may change, mind.**

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"Naruto…hold me."

Ai all but flung herself onto Naruto. The Uzumaki-nin chuckled nervously. "Oh, come on, Ai, this'll work itself out…"

Ai had found Naruto walking back through the village gate from his mission. Whenever he was fully in sight, she explained what had happened over the course of the day very quickly to him.

**FLASHBACK: 5 HOURS EARILIER…**

Ai was walking through the streets of Konoha. The sun had finally peaked over the horizon, and the villagers were beginning to stir.

Ai was headed for the market in town to pick up some groceries. She paused at a fruit vendor and was about to pick out an apple when she heard voices behind her.

"So _that's _the girl that Hatake's going out with?"

"Geez, she's only like 12, isn't she?"

"Heh, Kakashi's gonna have a ball whenever he hears that we know about his secret girlfriend…"

Curious, Ai spun around and stared at three Konoha jonin. She recognized them as Hayate, Genma and Raido. The apple was forgotten as she marched up to the three. "Are you talking about me?" she asked, a little bit of anger rising in her voice.

Genma chewed on his piece of straw. "Yeah. You're the chick Kakashi's seeing? Geez…what a shorty."

Ai snorted and got a little closer to Genma. "What do you care?" she asked. She didn't want to give away that she and Kakashi weren't actually dating in case some sort of repercussions occurred (as in him having to go back to the hospital).

Hayate coughed, like he always did. "Look, it's Ai, right?" he asked, remembering the kunoichi from the chunin exams. "I don't know if you know this, but the jonin are meeting tonight for our monthly report…and this is probably going to be brought up."

"I don't think the Hokage will be very happy that Kakashi's courtin' a 12 year old…" Raido warned, putting his hands in his pockets.

"It's 14, thanks," Ai corrected tensely. Then she looked at each of the jonin's faces. They looked dead serious. Would something really happen to Kakashi if someone brought up the fact that they were fake dating to Tsunade?

"What would happen to Kakashi if someone brought this up?" she asked each of them. Genma shrugged and looked up at a cloud passing over his head.

"Dunno," he replied. "But my guess is that it won't be very…good."

Ai stood back a little, a shocked expression on her face as she feared the worst. "Would he be demoted or something?" she asked.

Raido sighed. "Nah, probably nothing that serious. But he would be treated pretty differently, y'know."

The chunin gulped as she considered all the possibilities swiftly in her mind. Then she waved the jonin off with a quick 'thanks,' and hurried off to find someone to talk to.

**END FLASHBACK**

"OK, the important thing is NOT to freak out," Naruto said, trying to soothe Ai as she gripped onto him in fear and stress.

"WAAH!" she cried. "They're gonna demote Kakashi-sensei just because we lied so he could get out of the hospital!!"

Naruto smirked slightly. "They're not gonna demote him," he reassured. "Look, you know what they say…when in doubt, go with honesty."

Ai sniffed and stared up at Naruto's deep blue eyes. "Yeah, but what am I going to do? Barge into the meeting and say 'Hey dudes! Guess what? Me and red eyes over there aren't going out, sorry for the confusion!'?"

"No," Naruto smiled. "Just tell Kakashi to tell the truth whenever he's confronted by the other jonin at the meeting. And if they don't believe him…back him up."

"Y-you really think that'll work?" Ai asked, a tiny bit of hope returning to her voice. Her friend smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"It'll work."

The kunoichi undid her grip from Naruto's arms and stood back on the ground. She lowered her eye lids and frowned. "By the way, you've been hanging out with Guy and Lee WAY too long."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Have I…?" he asked sheepishly. Ai giggled and told him good bye before running back home.

***

That night, all the jonin crowded into the meeting room at the Hokage's tower. Kakashi strode in (nearly too late, as usual) and sat down with the rest of his colleagues.

Tsunade took her place at the end of the table and smiled at all her shinobi. "Good evening, everyone," she greeted. The Hokage rested her face on her palm and smirked. "Anybody got any juicy gossip?"

All eyes turned to Genma as he started snickering. "Well, I got somethin' Lady Tsunade," he admitted. Tsunade raised her eyebrows and nodded to him.

"Well, share with the rest of the class, then."

Genma stood up and gestured to Kakashi, who was sitting across from him. "Hatake here's datin' his 14 year old student!"

There was a stunned silence, with Kakashi looking as bewildered as the rest of them. Guy's eyes were suddenly ablaze with anger. "YOU DON'T MEAN AI, DO YOU?!" he accused. Genma chuckled and carelessly hitched his thumb in his pocket.

"It appears so," he said with a chuckle.

Kakashi stared slowly around the room before resting his gaze on Tsunade, who was glaring a hole in his side.

"Now, Lady Tsunade," he said calmly yet firmly. "Do you honestly think that I, a jonin that's nearly 27, would be dating my student?"

Tsunade's gaze softened just a tad before sitting back down. "Nah, I guess not…" then the kunoichi looked up at Genma, who was still looking very smug. "But I also don't believe that Genma would lie like that either."

Suddenly, the door to the room creaked open, which caught everyone's attention. The door swung open fully revealing Ai, standing very tall. Guy cocked a bushy eyebrow.

"Ai? What are you doing here?" he asked his foster daughter. Neji (he's a jonin too, remember) squinted his eyes slightly.

"Chunin are not allowed at jonin meetings," he informed her. Ai gulped and nodded towards her friend.

"I know Neji, thanks," she said sarcastically. "But I'm here to say that…" Ai took a deep breath. "Kakashi-sensei and I have never, ever gone out and/or dated each other, and we have no plans to."

There was a hushed silence over the room, and Genma gnawed on his piece of straw, looking very embarrassed at the moment. Tsunade sighed deeply and nodded. "Thank you, Ai," she said. "You can leave now."

Ai frowned and backed up, closing the door behind her.

"Listen, Lady Tsunade…" Genma started. Tsunade shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, leave it Genma. It doesn't matter. It's just gossip."

Guy cracked his knuckles and gritted his teeth. "It was about to matter…because Kakashi would need to have another eye transplant," he said in a warning voice. Kakashi sheepishly smirked and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, come on Guy," he reasoned. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Tsunade couldn't help but smirk slightly, now that everything had been straightened. "Y'know Kakashi, if you weren't in such a stable condition right now, I'd ship you right off to the hospital due to a fake source of consent."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Tsunade swept her gaze over the jonin again. "Well, seeing as no one else has anything to talk about, the meeting is dismissed."

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**When I get another review, the next chapter will be posted. So get reviewing! XD**


	6. A Bond

**A/N: Hey, I told you this one was going to be short.**

**Also, I've decided to hold off on publishing the next entry in this series, simply because I a.) don't have enough done in advanced, and b.) I want to work on some other projects. It'll get published soon, don't worry. Just not as soon as you'd want.**

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Kakashi was walking home. The moon was lighting his path, and his hands were shoved in his pockets. He was deep in thought; he was thinking about what had gone on during the meeting.

Suddenly, the jonin stopped and tensed, feeling a presence somewhere near him.

"It's just me," Ai said, stepping out into the moonlight where Kakashi could see her clearly. He sighed in relief and put his hands back in his pockets.

"Hey."

Ai placed her hands in the pockets on her hoodie and stood there awkwardly for a second. "Look, I'm sorry about all the trouble that I've caused," she apologized. "I didn't mean for people to think that we were…"

"That _you_ caused?"

Kakashi interrupted his student with a confused expression. "Ai, you didn't cause any of this," he replied. "It's my fault. If I hadn't lied yesterday at the hospital, none of this would have happened." He smiled. "You're fine."

There was a silence for a moment as the two thought of something else to say; of how to tell each other good night.

There was no longer any need for words, though. Before Kakashi could even think, Ai was around his waist, giving him a big hug. "Don't beat yourself up about it," she said softly, snuggling into his chest. Kakashi blushed.

This shouldn't be happening. Ai is 14. He is almost 27. Still 26, but almost 27. She's his STUDENT; he is her teacher. Romantic feelings should be over with, and should have been left behind long after the squads were assigned. Sure, he knew Sakura probably thought he was handsome or whatever, but now she's still caught up in Sasuke.

Ai should not love him.

But she did.

"Ai…wait."

Ai didn't listen to Kakashi's caution though. She only gripped him tighter. "I could never ask for a better teacher," she said. "If I would have gotten Guy, then forget it. Ebisu? No way. I've never met anybody who would go beyond teaching, go beyond the lessons…and just be my _friend._"

Kakashi breathed deeply and ruffled Ai's hair. "Look, as much as you're probably enjoying this, I have to get home."

The chunin reluctantly unattached herself from her teacher and gazed up at his onyx eye. "I'll see you tomorrow then…Kakashi."

With that, Ai disappeared into the night.

Kakashi stared off in her direction, still a little frazzled by what had just happened. He decided to shrug it off though. Meh. Hormones. Nothing unusual.

Still though, Kakashi realized with a sudden shock that things would never be the same between him and Ai.

OK, so it was a tiny white lie…but it was enough to make a connection. A bond.

A bond that could never be broken.

_The End…POSSIBLY!!_

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**So, yeah, that's it. Thanks for all the great people reviewing, maybe you should follow their example! :)**


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